He fled Berlin in 1935 as a boy, studied maths, and worked on some of the first computers after the war. He became one of the giants of computer science research. He probably has done more than anyone to explore the potential of computers and artificial intelligence. He recently returned to live in Berlin mitte.

To speak only of Joseph Weizenbaum’s lifetime technological achievements would not do him justice. He is an engineer and computer scientist by profession but a humanitarian at heart. Weizenbaum has a deep concern for education and the direction for computer applications. When asked about the benefits computers could bring to the classroom, Weizenbaum’s reply was indicative of establishing a first priority to determine what problems currently exist within the institution. Only after answering such questions about education can one look to computers to provide some answers. Aside from developing the world’s first banking software for Bank of America, Weizenbaum has contributed to the field of artificial intelligence and is the author of the famous ELIZA program. ELIZA, modeled from Rogerian psychology, is a computer program that carries out natural language conversations with the user. Weizenbaum firmly believes that science is not impenetrable to the human will, and he hopes that students today consider the moral and ethical ramifications of their work.

Probably more than anyone else, Weizenbaum raised significant questions about the ethical and moral challenges of computerization. I suppose the simplest way to paraphrase him would be just because something is technically possible, doesn’t make it ethically correct. He challenges computer scientists to think beyond just technology. He spent most of his life thinking about what it is to be human.

I’ll also have to watch this movie.

“The computer programmer is a creator of universes for which he alone is responsible. Universes of virtually unlimited complexity can be created in the form of computer programs.”

That conversation with eliza reminds me a lot about a website I came across http://www.titane.ca/igod which is not surprising considering that eliza was the mother of most of new generation chat bots…May his soul rest in peace..